Alexandra Poppy

Austrian Advent Calendar Day 10 Hello, dear friends! We’ve already reached day ten in our Austrian Advent Calendar, and as festive menus begin taking shape in kitchens across the hemisphere, I thought I’d share some Austrian cookbooks to inspire your…

Hello friends ! No, it’s not January 1st just yet, but you can still clap your hands to the music in honour of today’s book review : Joseph Roth’s world famous 1932 novel, The Radetzky March. Nobel Prize laureate Mario…

Austrian Advent Calendar Day 8 Hello, dear friends, and welcome to day eight of our Austrian Advent Calendar. Today we turn our attention to that most beloved of December rituals: trimming the tree. I confess I hesitated considerably this year…

Austrian Advent Calendar Day 7 Dear Rainer Maria Rilke, I have just finished your Letters to a Young Poet, and naturally, I feel that a letter of my own is the most appropriate way to express my thoughts at this…

Is there anything more Viennese than the waltz  ? With just a few notes you are transported to a place and time that breathes to the rhythm of 1, 2, 3… 1, 2, 3… Welcome to our 6th day of…

Hello everyone, and Happy… Saint Nicholas Eve ! This might sound strange to some, and familiar to others, but in many European countries, Saint Nicholas is an essential part of the Christmas celebrations in December. The official feast is on December…

Welcome to day 3 and to our first book review of this year’s Austrian Advent Calendar ! I started my series of discoveries in the land of Austrian literature with a light and amusing read : Wolfgang Hermann’s Herr Faustini…

Austrian Advent Calendar Day 2 Welcome to the second day of our Austrian Advent Calendar, dear friends! Let’s talk about Christmas music. It’s often the first element that signals the season’s arrival. Before department store windows become galleries of glitter…